A Must-Read CM Punk Interview
07/29/2011 18:25
Here are some highlights of CM Punk's interview with GQ.com. This is a very good read.
GQ: One of the things you said last night was that you made the WWE socially relevant, that the only times it's socially relevant are when you're talking and when somebody dies. Do you care to expand on that?
C.M. Punk: I think pro wrestling—for some reason, our company doesn't like to call it that, but that's what it is, so that's what I call it—it doesn't seem to get a lot of mainstream attention until somebody dies. There's a negative connotation to that, but Randy Savage just passed away of natural causes. The poor guy was driving his car, and he had a heart attack. I think that was the last time we got any mainstream attention. And then all eyes are on the program, to see whether they're going to do a memorial. Are they going to forget about this guy? Are they going to pretend he didn't contribute to their product? It's not just the negative stuff with stupid wrestlers dying in stupid ways. Savage was all over ESPN. Local news reported it. It was a big news story. They don't report what happens on every other "Monday Night Raw."
GQ: Why do you think that is?
C.M. Punk: Pro wrestling has always been ingrained into American culture. It was one of the first things that was ever on television, so everybody watched it. Countless people tell me, "I got into wrestling because my grandfather watched it." It was always there. No matter how much people want to pretend that they're embarrassed by it, that they don't watch it, everybody knows about it. It's truly, I believe, one of the only art forms that America has actually given to the world, besides jazz and comic books. The media, no offense, likes to latch onto negative stuff. They're not going to report that—there's no truth to this story; I'm just using it as an example—that John Cena and his wife just had an eight-pound baby. But you'd better believe that if somebody dies, they're going to report it.
GQ: But when a story comes along that captures people's imagination, like what you're doing now, it does become relevant. How does that not happen more often?
C.M. Punk: That is a fantastic question. I don't have the answer. If it happened more often, it wouldn't be as special, right? I hear a lot of people compare what I did three weeks ago to Stone Cold Steve Austin. Everyone's just waiting for that next polarizing character. I think that's why this worked. I've been saying I'm that guy for five years. Different people are afforded different opportunities. I've been given some awesome opportunities, and I feel that I've always knocked them out of the park. But I've always been scaled back after that. This time, the genesis of it is that I'm leaving. I'm done. I'm tired. "What are they going to do, fire me?" That's been my attitude for months and months now. That finally resonated through the television screen. And that's something that everyone in this economic world can 100% relate to.
GQ: Is that parallel to Austin why you wore a Stone Cold Steve Austin T-shirt when you were delivering that promo?
C.M. Punk: I do a lot of weird little things like that because people talk about it. I don't think it's any secret; I think the biggest match any wrestling company can do right now is C.M. Punk vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin. I've thought that since I was 15. I'm straight edge. I don't drink. I don't do drugs. I don't smoke. And that is the perfect protagonist or antagonist to Stone Cold Steve Austin, depending on how you want to spin it. It writes itself. You would have to try really, really hard to f--k that one up. The idea of being on television is to wear your T-shirt so people see it and maybe buy it. I had gone out previously in the night and wrestled. You throw your T-shirt on the ground, and I don't know what the hell happens to it after that. I came to the back, and I was looking for another T-shirt. I sent somebody to go and get one, and they came back with a XXL. I was like, "I'm going to be swimming in this thing." And it's always creepy when you're wearing wrestling trunks with a shirt because it doesn't look like you're wearing any pants. I had a Stone Cold Steve Austin shirt in my bag, and it fit me. I chuckled to myself and put it on. Am I planting seeds? I don't know. I can't guarantee to anybody that that match is going to happen. Do I want it to happen? Absolutely.
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